About

The Chennakesava Temple in Belur is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

The temple is the prototypical temple of the Hoyasala style which is characterized by hyper-real sculptures and stone carvings that cover the entire architectural surface, a circumambulatory platform, a large-scale sculptural gallery, a multi-tiered frieze, and sculptures of the Sala legend.

The temple has a stellate plan, with a broad external circumambulatory platform of about 1m height, of the same stellate plan. The principal entrance of the temple faces east. There are ancillary entrances on the north and south, with a short flight of 8 steps leading up to the platform, and a further set of 8 steps leading up to the temple. There are minor shrines flanking these entrances both at the ground level, and at the temple level, leaving the platform free for devotes' circumambulation. The three doorways have decorated sculptures of gatekeepers (dvarapalakas). The lintel above the main gateway on the east features elephants flanking a figure of Lakshmi. The walls in the front of the temple feature simple grid perforations, while the walls on the rear have rich ornamentation and friezes depicting mythological and social themes. The temple originally featured an open mandapa, with the perforated stone screens being added during the reign of Veera Ballala III in the early 14th century. Two styles of light screens have been used in the temple: geometric artwork and Puranic stories artwork.
The base of the platform measures 51m by 41m, with the temple above it having a base of 36m by 27m.
The temple originally featured a spire above the sanctum sanctorum. The original tower was made of a combination of wood, brick and mortar. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times. The collapsing tower above the sanctum was removed in late 19th-century to save the lower levels and never replaced, giving the structure the flat look that is seen today.
The art work seen on the exterior walls of the temple is in several horizontal bands. The bottom-most band has elephants in different poses. Above it is an empty layer, followed by cornice work with a periodic lion face. Above it is another band of scroll and then cornice band, except at the back of the temple where a row of horsemen in various riding positions are depicted. The fifth band has small figurines, dancers, musicians - mostly female, with the occasional Yaksha figure - as well as artisans at work. The band above has pilasters between some of which are carved secular figures mostly females and couples. A nature and creepers band wraps the temple above the pilaster band, with scenes of the Ramayana epic included in this band. Above this layer are scenes from common including couples in various phases of love and courtship, couples with children, economic and festive activities. The outer wall on the northern side has friezes with scenes from the Mahabharata. Above these bands are the 10 perforated stone windows. Later day artists engraved ten of these screens with depictions of the Hoyasala court, incarnations of Vishnu and tales from the life of Krishna, and other mythological stories.
Above the perforated screens, on capitals of the supporting pillars, are female (Salabhanjika) figures. There were originally 40 madanakai, of which 38 survive. These finely carved soapstone figures give the temple its most iconic features. The wall features 80 large reliefs figures of Vishnu, his incarnations (Narasimha, Varaha, Vamana, Ranganatha, Balarama), Shiva in various forms (with or without Parvati), Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu), Surya, Durga, Rati and Manmadha, Ganesha, Brahma, Saraswati, Garuda, Chandra, Arjuna shooting an arrow to win Draupadi, Ravana lifting the Kailasha, Daksha, Bali and Sukracharya. Also included is the image of a Jina of Jainism.
The central hall (navaranga) has carved pillars with a large domed ceiling in the center, a mandapa with 60 bays, and 48 pillars. Each of the 48 pillars has its own unique profile, except for the four in the center, which were later-day additions dating to the Vijayanagara empire in the late 14th century. Two pillars are particularly notable - the Narasimha pillar which is carved with miniature figures from top to bottom which according to local legend could rotate because of how it was supported; and the Mohini pillar which features the female incarnation of Vishnu, ashtadikpalakas, griffon-like creatures, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, and the ten incarnations of Vishnu. The four central pillars are hand carved while the others were lathe turned.
The center of the hall is a large open square, with a domed ceiling about 10 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep. The design of the ceiling is a modified utksipta style with images placed in concentric rings. At the top of the ceiling is a lotus bud with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva carved on it, while the bottom of the dome has a series of friezes depicting scenes from the Ramayana. The capitals of the four pillars feature madanikas (Salabhanjika), one of whom represents a dancing Saraswati.
The mandapa leads to the garbha-griha, with the doorway and pediment above the lintel featuring the gatekeepers Jaya-Vijaya, and a figure of Lakshmi Narayana respectively. There are two makaras with Varuna and Varuni together riding on them on the side of the doorway. The principal deity is a 6-foot tall image of Keshava with a halo, standing on 3 feet high pedestal. The halo has cyclical carving of the ten avatars of Vishnu – Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.

The Chennigaraya Temple which stands on the south of the main temple, was built concurrently with the main temple, and was commissioned by the queen. It has two sanctums inside, one dedicated to Venugopala and the other to Chennigaraya. Its base, including the platform, is 30m by 23m, with the temple base measuring 24m by 21m.

To the west of the Kesava temple is the Viranarayana temple measuring 70 feet by 56 feet. It is a small temple with a navaranga (nine square hall) and a garbha griya (sanctum) with 59 large reliefs on the outer walls. These reliefs are dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Bhairava (angry Shiva), Lakshmi, Parvati, Saraswati and others.

To the southwest of the Kesava temple is a small temple dedicated to Somyanayaki (form of the goddess Lakshmi).

The Andal temple, also called Ranganayaki temple, is to the northwest of the Kesava temple. Its outer wall are decorated with carved elephants and other elements drawn from nature. It also displays 31 large images of deities from the Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism. It also has intricately carved Venugopala, Mohini and Lakshmi, as well as friezes showing legends in the Puranas. The spire of the Ranganayaki temple is said to be a scaled-down version of the spire which originally stood over the Chennakesava temple.

The complex has a number of smaller shrines, two pillars - the Garuda stambha (which has Vishnu's mount, an eagle, on top of it), and the Deepa stambha (which has lamps which can be lit). A granary for storing food reserves is found in the northwest corner of the complex. A stepped water tank - Vasudeva-sarovar - is found in the northeast corner with two stone elephants flanking its entrance and miniature shrines in the pond itself.

A pillared corridor along the inside of the northern courtyard wall, features a number of sculptures from around the region, along with rock inscriptions. These inscriptions in the temple complex, dated between 1117 CE to the 18th century, provide a history of the temple, the grants made to the Chennakeshava temple for its upkeep and the repairs during later times.

The Pathaleswara Temple, about 300m to the east of the temple is another excellent example of Hoyasala architecture, dating back to the 12th century as well, with exquisite carvings on its walls. However, it is much smaller in scale, and does not have the platform characteristic of other temples of the style.

Architecture

Chloritic schist, also known as soapstone, has been used extensively for making the decorative elements. It is soft when quarried and allows artists to more easily carve details. The material hardens over time.

Trivia

Unusually for Indian temples, some of the Hoysala artists have signed their work in the temple in the form of inscriptions, including details about themselves, their families, guilds and place of origin. Stone inscriptions and copper plate inscriptions provide more information about them.

Ruvari Mallitamma was a prolific artist to whom more than 40 sculptures are attributed.

Dasoja and his son Chavana who were from Balligavi are credited with having worked on four and five madanikas, respectively.

Malliyanna and Nagoja created birds and animals in their sculptures.

Chikkahampa and Malloja are credited with some of the sculptures in the mantapa.